Electrical cables are commonly supplied to an electrical junction box for connecting the cable to electrical fixtures or other electrical cables. The cables generally pass through an opening in the wall of the electrical box and are secured in place by a suitable clamp. Conventional cable clamps generally clamp the cable between a clamping plate and a side wall or bottom of the electrical box. A disadvantage of this type of clamping arrangement is that the wall of the electrical box is generally smooth and not able to adequately grip and clamp the cable in place.
Numerous cable clamping devices are known for clamping electrical cables to an electrical box. One form of cable clamp includes two opposing surfaces for gripping a cable therebetween. One example of a cable clamp is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,872 to Lockwood et al. One disadvantage of this type of cable clamp is that it is not able to accommodate all types of electrical cables having plastic and metal protective sheaths. In addition, the protective sheath must be removed from the larger non-metallic cables so that the electrical wires can be passed through the cable clamp into the electrical box, since the protective sheath will not pass through the cable clamp.
Other cable clamps are produced which are able to accommodate metal armor cable and plastic sheathed cable. These devices typically include an end stop for the metal armor such that a portion of the armor must be removed to allow the wires to pass through the stop. Since the plastic sheathed cables generally do not use an end stop, the end stop must be removed before the cable is passed through the device, thereby creating an additional step before the clamp can be used. Accordingly, there is a continuing need in the art for a cable clamp which can effectively clamp a cable to an electrical box without the need to remove the end stop when used with the non-metallic cables.